Mounting for vibratory bodies



Dec. 28, 1948. P, E, BERRY v 2,457,340

MOUNTING FOR VIBRATORY BODIES Filed Jan. 16, 1945s 2 Smets-sheet 1 v 17152@ l5 0 M19 'EL' Dec.. 2s, 194s. 'P,. E, BERRY 2,457,340'

MOUNTING FOR VIBRATORY BODIES Filed Jan. 16, 1945 I 2 Shee-c.s-'She,e1;A 2

Patented Dec. 28, i948 MOUNTING FOR VIBRATORY BODIES Philip Edwin erry, Bristol, England, assignor to The Bristol Aeroplane Company Limited, Bris tol, England, a company of Great Britain y Application January 1s, 1945, serial No. 573,044

In Great Britain December 30, 1943 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8. 1946 Patent expires December 30, 1963 4 Claims. l

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to mountings for bodies which are subject to vibration (hereinafter called vibratory bodies) of the kind in which the body is carried by the mounting so as to hang at one side thereof. Mountings of this kind are commonly' provided for aircraft power-plants, particularly when the engine is of the radial-cylinder type and comprises flexible or elastic devices interposed between the mounting structure and the body. In connection with such elastic devices, reference will be made to the principal axis of stiffness and by this term is meant an axis such that if one part of the device is fixed and a force is applied to another part along that axis, that part moves in the direction of the applied force.

Any vibratory motion of a body can be resolved into three essential modes of vibration namely;

l. Torsional vibration about an axis (the axis of torsion) normal to the plane of the mounting structure, which axis in the case of a powerplant is the crankshaft. y

2. Angular vibration about an axis normal to the axis of torsion and passing through the centre of gravity of the body, and n 3. Linear vibration in a direction normal to the axis of torsion.

A known form of this kind of mounting for an aircraft power-plant comprises a mounting ring, a plurality of links by which the plant is secured to said ring, and a hollow cylindrical rubber bush arranged between each link and a pincarried tangentially by the ring, said link and bush be;- ing capable of pivotal movement upon said pin; The rubber bushes have principal axes of greater and lesser stiiness, the axes of greater stiiness of the various bushes being so disposed as to intersect at a point more remote from the plane oi the mounting ring than the centre of gravity of said power plant. This known form of mounting acts as if supporting the plant at its centre of gravity. As aconsequence the essential Vibratory motions, as dened above, to which the power-plant is subjected are each rendered independent of the others, and can be independently controlled. This attribute of the known form of mounting is hereinafter referred to as that of decoupling said vibrations.

Whilst in the known mounting described the modes of vibration (torsional, angular and linear) are decoupled, nevertheless the natural frequency of the angular and linear vibrations are interrelatedsince both are a function of the angle at which the axis of greater stiffness intercepts the crankshaft axis for a given torsional natural frequency. This isr undesirable since if said angle is selected togivefa certain value for the linear natural frequency it may be found that the value of the natural `frequency for angular vibrations is not the mostsatisfactory and vice versa. A compromise therefore has to be made. For instance, it is generally found in the case Iof radial engines (especially the multiebank type with counter-rotating(propellers mounted in the usual plane) that, when the said angle is .selected to give the appropriate natural frequency-for angular vibrations and when the torsional natural frequency is'` correct, the natural frequency for linear vibrations is too low to ensure a satisfactory limitation to linear movements of the power plant under the action of transient forces and at low engine` speeds.

The present invention has for its object to provide a mounting which will ensure that the various modes of vibration are decoupled and that the values. of .the torsional, angular and linear natural frequencies of the mounting may be each arbitrarily selected. l.

According to, the present invention a mounting for a vibratory body comprises two set of elastic devicesl'f'so disposed between the body and its mounting structure that the first set eiects along a principal axis of stiffness the only or main 'control nfor torsional vibrations, the second set effects along a principal axisof stiiness the whole or a substantial part of the control for angular vibrations, and the two sets conjointly control linear vibrations.

Acccrdingto another feature of the invention the elastic devices of the rst set are so constructed as to have two principal axes of stiness whereof one is tangential to a circle co-axial with the axis of torsion and the other intersects the corresponding axes of the other devices of that set either at the centre of gravity of the body, or near it at a point between it and the plane of the mounting structure.

According to yet another feature of the invention the elastic devices of the second set are so constructed as to have each a principal axis of stiffness so directed that all of the said axes intersect at a point beyond the centre of gravity of the body, and the said devicesv are connected either to the body or to the mounting structure each by a universal joint.

Specic embodiments of the invention as applied to a mounting for a power plant for an aircraft will now be described, merely by way of Figure 4 is a diagrammaticperspective AView ofv a mounting in accordance with vention.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 the .mountingstructure comprises a plurality of struts I Il, which are secured to the fuselage of the'aircraft and to which a mounting ring II is rigidly attached.4 The power-plant, which is indicated in generailiby the reference I2, comprises an engine I3 of the the present inr`radial-,cylinder ,ty-pe, together with Yits accessories and airscrew. 'I he power-.plant issecured to the4 mounting ring `I.I as will be hereinafter described. v

At each of fourjequifdistant points around the Amounting ring there is provided a group of four .brackets I4. Allthe groups lie upon the same pitch-circle I5 and each provides support for a hinge-pin "I8 l(see Figure 2) `which lies on the engine-side of the mounting ring and is disposed tangentially tosa'id pitch circle.

The brackets I4 are spaced apart to receive and locate'between them a U-shaped arm I7, the free ends ofthe legs I8 of which embrace the end portions of the pin-IB. The arm I'I is attached vto te engine I3 by'means of a bolt I9 which extends through the basev or cross-piece 20 of the lU -shaped arm, so'as to lie parallel with the longit-udinal axis of the hinge pin I'. Thearr'n I'I is capable of pivotal movement about both the pin I 6 and ther-bolt I9. The axis of the arm I'I' (that is the axisjoining the centres of the hinge pin I6 and bolt `Ii) vas -is shown in Figures 1 and 2) intersects the crankshaft axis 2|, it being assumed that the centre ofY gravity of the power plantlies on this axis. u

-Carried by thefcentral portion of the 'hinge pin I6 is a link 22 one end of 'which embraces andcan turn on the pin, whilst theother end is attached lto the engine I 3 by means of al universal orspherical joint 23. 'Theaxisof the` link "(that is the axis joining Vthe centres of the hinge pin'l 'I6 and universal joint '123,"Figures l and 2) intersects thev crankshaft axis 2I at a point O which is more remote from the plane Aof the mounting ring II than is the centre of gravity Z of the power plant. j A

In order to provide for` decoupling y"of the three modes of vibration to whichl the power plant is subjected, elastic devices in the form of rubber blocks-are provided between 'the link 22 and the hinge-pinIS and 'betweenfeach leg of the U-shaped arm Il and the hinge-pin. Each rubber block, 2419 and 24a, respectivelyisin ythe form ofa hollow cylindrical bushthe Iinnei cylindrical face of which is bonded to a thinmetal sleeve 2519, 25a rotatable on the hinge-pin I'S'whilst--its Vouter surface is enveloped lbyand bon-ded to another metal 'sleeve 2Gb, Z-Ba'respectively, secured inthe link 22 or legs I8 of arm I'I.'

Each of the lrubberfbushes, 2da; 24h has ltwo effective principal axes'of '.st'iifnesjs. That is', asA

shown in Figure 4'th`e`jbrusl'i-24b associated with the link .22 has a sti'iness" VK1 inl-the 'direction of the length .of the-link a stiiness at right' vangles thereto along the central axis of the cylindrical bush. Similarly the lateral bushes 24a each has a stiiness K2 in the direction of the axis of the arm I'i and a stiiness K3 in a direction :at right anglestheretgo along .the central axis of `the cylindrical bushes. "It is arranged in the particular construction shown in Figures 1 and 2 that the stiffness K2, K1 of the bushes 2da, 24h is greater Vthan-their stiffness along the axis of the bushes. e

Disposed between each end of the lateral rubber J1crushes 2da.; and the brackets il! between which 'they are carried is a snubbing disc 2l.

:In the construction shown in Figure l the axis loi'zthe arm I!! :intersects the crankshaft axis 2l at the centre of gravity Z of the power plant I2. This is the lpreferred construction of the invention. In this construction the three modes of `vibration produce the following eiects:

(a) Torsionial vibrations are transmitted by the arm .I'I to the lateral rubber busheslliain-the direction voi the central axis of the bushes, that is, in the direction of the axis vof lesser stifness K'; of the bush (Figure e) The universal joint 23 by which the link 22 is attached to the engine I3 ensures that said torsional vibrations are not transmitted to the link or .to the central bush 2517 to any appreciable extent; they couldbe completely isolated from the bush 24h by providing a universal joint between the link 22 andthe 'outer' sleeve bbof the bush.

(b) Angular vibrations are transmitted only to the central rubber bush 24h in the direction of the long axisof the link 22, that is, radially to the bush `and along its axis of greater stillness K1. As the long axis ofthe arm il passes through the centre of gravity `Z of the power plant and the angular vibrations referred to occur about an .axis .passing therethrough, these vibrations will not be transmitted to the lateral rubber bushes 24a,

.(c) .Linear vibrationsare transmitted Itoboth .the lateral and central rubber bushesfZa, 22h through their associated .arm Il and link 22 respectively. The direction -of the loading Lthereby produced (with reference to the lateral-rubber brushes) depends upon the 4disposition of the bushes Yin relation to the direction aof, the/linear vibrations, being either along the axis-of the arm y-II or along the axis of ythe hinge pin I6 or both simultaneously when the vibration has components along both of theseaxes. The .,direction of the loading with reference yto the central bush is ,along the axis of the link 22, the loadingfbeing limited to this direction by the universall joint 23.

By suitably positioning the elastic devices 24a and 24h and selecting appropriate stiinesses -for them, the mounting described with reference to Figure 1 will enable the three modes of vibration which may be present to be rendered independent of one another that is, the presence of .onemode has no tendency to produce vibrations .of another mode. This means that the vibrations are decoupled asin the known form vof .mounting referred to. However it will be noted 'that the torsional vibrations are taken by the lateral bushes 24a along their axis of lesserstiffness Ki, the angular vibrations are taken by the central bush 24o along its axis of greater stiiness K1 and the linear vibrations are taken by the .central bush AZAlbalong 'its axis of greater stiffness K1 and'by theklateral bushes 24a along both the axis ofgreater and lesser stiffness K2 and' K3 respectively. Since the stillness of the bushes along each of the two principal axesreferred to may be selected in an entirely independent manner it follows that the value of the naturalfrequency of torsional vibration may be independently and arbitrarily chosen. The stiffness of theA central bush 24h and the inclination of the axis along which it lies relative to the crankshaft axis 2I (angle a of Figure 1) are selected to give the value of natural frequency of angular vibrations which isdesired.v As indicateclabovavunder these circumstances the natural frequency of linearvibrations which will be obtained will be less than .the desired value: "however the stiffness of the lateral bushes 24a. along their axes of greater stiffness is selectable independently of the stiffness chosen to give the required value to the natural frequency of torsional vibrations. Accordingly a value is selected for the stiffness K2 which in conjunction with the value of linear natural frequency for the central bush 24h will give,` the linear natural frequency which is desired. In effect therefore the natural frequency of all three modes of vibration can be arbitrarily selected.

In practice having selected a value K3 v(Figure 4) for the total stiffness along the central axis of the lateral rubber bushes 24a and the value K1 for the radial stiffness of the central bushes so that these will give respectively the desired value of natural frequency of torsional and angular vibrations, then the angle a which the' long axis of the link 22 makes with vthe crankshaft axis 21 must be such as to satisfy thefzge'ner'al equation:

:c distance between the plane of the rubber blocks and the centre of gravity Z of the powerplant, and

r radius of the pitch-circle I5.

In the alternative construction shown in Figure 2 the long axis of the arm I1 intersects the crankshaft axis 2| at the point Y which is situated behind the centre of gravity Z of the power-plant I2, that is on the mounting-ring side thereof. With this construction the three modes of vibration generally produce the effects described with reference to the construction of Figure 1. However, by offsetting the long axis of the arm I1 from the centre of gravity Z of the power-plant, the angular vibrations are transmitted in part, and preferably in the greater part, to the central rubber bush 24h and in a lesser part to the lateral rubber bushes 24a. Similarly although the linear vibrations are transmitted in greater part to the lateral rubber bushes 24a, a certain proportion of the linear vibrations are also transmitted to the central rubber bush 24h as described in the construction with reference to Figure 1. The torsional vibrations are transmitted by the arm I1 only to the lateral rubber bushes 24a in the direction of the central axis of the bushes, that is in the direction of lesser stiffness K3 of the bush.

As in the construction of Figure 1 the vibrations are de-coupled so that the presence of one mode has no tendency to produce vibrations of another mode. Moreover, since the torsional vibrations are taken by the lateral bushes 24a along their axis of lesser stiffness K3, the angular vibrations are taken in the main by the central bush 24h along fits axis of' .greater stiffness Ki and the ytorsional vibrationv may be independently and arbitrarily chosen,

(il) .That the stiffness K1 of the central bush 24h and the angle a may be selected to give a value of natural frequency of angular vibrations for bush 24h which in conjunction with the value of angular natural vibrations for the lateral bushes 24a gives the natural frequency which is desired.

(iii) That the stiffness K2 of the lateral bushes VZta and the inclination of the axis of arm I1 to the crankshaft axis 2I (angle by of Figure 3) may be selected to give a value of natural frequence of linear vibrations for bushes 24a which in conjunction with the value of linear natural fre-r quency for the central bush 24h will give the natural frequency which is desired.

In effect therefore whilst the angular Vibrations are taken in greater part by the central bush, thelinear vibrations in greater part by the lateral bushes (each along their axis of greater stiifness) and the torsional vibrations only by the lateral bushes along their axis of lesser stiffness, it is possible to select the natural frequency of allthe modes of vibration in an independent and arbitrary manner.

Withthe construction described with reference to Figure 2, in .order to obtain decoupling of the modesA of vibration the following expression should be satisfied:

where =the distance between the plane of the rubber blocks and the centre of gravity Z of the power plant.

r=radius of the pitch circle I5.

a=the angle which the long axis of link 22 makes with the crankshaft axis.

b=the angle'which the long axis of the arm I1 makes with the crankshaft axis.

K1==the radial stiffness of the central bush 24h.

Kz=the radial stiffness of the pair of lateral rubber bushes 24a.

&=total stiifness along the central axis of the lateral rubber bushes 24a.

It is to be understood -that although in the construction described the lateral and central rubber bushes at each attachment point form a sandwich, nevertheless the two lateral bushes may be replaced by a single bush in which case the rubber bush 'associated with the link could be located (if equal in number and on the same pitch circle) between adjacent pairs of such rubber blocks, and spaced apart therefrom around the mounting ring: but it is clearly not necessary that the bushes associated with the link should be equal in number or lie on the same pitch circle or lie in the same plane as the bushes associated with the hinged arm. When they are thus separated, the universal joint 23 may be replaced by a universal joint between the hinge-pin in the bush 24h and the mounting structure I0, II.

In the design of engine-mountings such as described above, it is possible for the natural 

